Three years ago I created the ‘science survey’ challenge to make myself read more widely in science,  and I’m pleased to report that not only did I complete the survey halfway into the year, but I was able to go well beyond my goal of twenty to read a RECORD SETTING 30 BOOKS.  I anticipate another strong year next year, though probably not this many!

Cosmology and Astrophysics

• To the Ends of the Universe, Isaac Asimov

Local Astronomy

• The Pluto Files,  Neil deGrasse Tyson
• The Planets: The Definitive Visual Guide to Our Solar System, the Smithsonian

Geology

• Aerial Geology, Mary Caperton Morton

Chemistry and Physics

• Uncle Tungsten: A Chemical Boyhood, Oliver Sacks

Biology

• The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson
• Never Home Alone, Rob Dunn
• Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach

Flora and Fauna

• What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World, Jon Young
• The Thing with Feathers, Noah Styrcker
• The Forest Unseen, David Haskell
• The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs,  Judy Burris  & Wayne Richards
• The Inner Life of Animals, Peter Wohlleben

Archaeology & Anthropology

• Why is Sex Fun? Jared Diamond
• The Goodness Paradox, Richard Wrangham
• Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble, Marilyn Johnson

Cognition, Neurology, and Psychology

• Welcome to Your Brain, Sandra Aamodt
• Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Frans de Waal

Weather and Climate

• Braving the Elements: The Stormy History of American Weather, David Raskin
• The Weather Machine, Andrew Blum
• 18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather, Christopher Dewdney

Ecology

• A Sand County Almanac, Aldous Leopold
• The Ground Beneath Us, Paul Bogard

Thinking Scientifically

• Letters from an Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories,  Rob Brotherton
• You Are Not So Smart:  [48] Ways You’re Deluding Yourself, David McRaney

Wildcard (Science Biography, History of Science, Natural History, Science and Health, or Science and Society)

•  The Science of Breaking Bad, Donna J. Nelson
• An Elegant Defense:  The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System, Matt Richtel
• Spillover:  Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, David Quammen
• The Ends of the Earth: Polar Regions of the World, Isaac Asimov

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